Improvement in apparatus for washing nitrous-oxide and other gases



A. E. PURSELL.

Improvement in Apparatus for Washing Nitrous-Oxide and other Gases.

N0 128,753, v Patentedluly 9,1872.y

Witnesses. lnventor.

Mw/ Le //i/M. #xm f Nrrnn S'rA'rns PATENT OFFICE.

ABNER E. PURsELL, oF'INDIANAPoLIs, INDIANA.

IMPROVEMENT iN APPARATUS FoR WASHING N|TRou sox|DE AND OTHER GASES. l

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 128,753, dated July 9, 1872.

Nature and Objects` of the uventou.

The first part of my invention relates to Washing the nitrous-oxide gas commonly called laughing-gas, and which is now generally employed as` an anaesthetic by dentists and surgeons to render their patients insensible to.

pain; and it consists in the construction of a percolating device, arranged at or near the bottom of a suitable cistern or-waterjar, .by means of which the gas is separated or subdivided into many minute globules as it passes through, the partitions separating the percolator into chambers, and ascends through the Water contained in the jar or cistern to the top, from whence it passes into other lconnected washers or into the gas-holder; the object being to more thoroughly cleanse and purify the gas than has heretofore been accomplished. The second part of my invention consists in the mode of constructing the cap of the watertank or vessel, having for its object to both render it gas-tight and to secure the connecting induction and eduction tubes in a more substantial and durable manner than heretofore. i

.Description of the Accompanyngrawng.

Figure 1 is a vertical section through the center of a gas-washer embodying my invention. Figs. 2 3, and 4 are sectional views of modifications of my improved percolating and subdividing device, through which the gas passes in being Washed.

' General Description.

A, Fig. 1, is a transverse vertical sectionjof the cistern or Watertank in which myilnproved pcrcolating device is placed. In order to cheapen its construction and to render the apparatus as nearly perfect in its operation as practicable, I employ for the cistern or water-tank the Hero fruit-jar, the cap of which is packed,

to render it air-tight, with an India-rubber gasket, and secured by means of a ring that screws down upon the ila-nge of the cap. To the cap and construction to which I give of said jarjI apply my device for cementing and firmly securing the induction-tube C and eduction-tube D. After vpunchin g holes in the cap l to receive the.. tubes U D, I solder short collars O to the cap, surrounding the holes, and

somewhat larger than the tubes, to aiord space to receive a cement packing of red-lead and litharge, which both prevents the escape of the gas and resists its destructive e'ects To the top of the cap B I solder a ring or collar, E, of the same diameteras the top and one or two inches in depth, .to be filled withk plaster of Paris F, which still further aids to hold the tubes iirmly in position. The percolator may be made of hard rubber or Vother suitable material that will resist the action of the gas, and in any of the forms shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, the object being'to s o construct them that the gas will be many times separated into minute globules, and passed throughseparate bodies of water at each separation or subdivision; the percolator being submerged in the water contained in the jar which findsv ingress into it through the small holes providedr for the escape of the gas. The action of the gas in passing through the various chambers of the percolator is such as to force a portion of the water out of it, thereby causing the water to be constantly renewed. As the percolators should be cleaned occasionally, they are constructed so as to be screwed together, as shown, so that they may be readily taken apart. The forms preference, as being cheapest and.. most e'ective in subdividing the gas, are shown in Figs. 2 and 4. C is the induction-tube, made of glass, and is connected with the'retort in which the gasis generated by means of a'common rubber tube attached to the top of tube O, and the `percolator is connected with the tube G by means of a short rubber tube, H, as shown in Fig. 1.

The gas passes from the retort down tube U into the iirst chamber ofthe percolator, from which it passes through small holes s into thel second chamber d; through the Water in which it rises and passes out through the small holes s in.partition e into chamber df,- through the water in which it descends and passes through the small holes s in partition c into thefourth chamber d"; through the water in which it rises and passes out into the vessel A through the small holes sin the cap and sides, near the the top of the percolator. From the jar it escapes through eductioi-tube D into the next washer in the series, a-nd from the last washer into the gas-holder. This description, though relating particularly to the percolator shown in Fig. l, is substantially the same as those shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

It will be seen that they arrangement of the A partitions ehavingthe small holes s therein, and subdividing the percolator into compartments or chambers d, is such as to subdivide the gas into small globules as it passes from one chamber to another, thereby exposing it in large` l surface to the purifying effect of the Water as it passes through the percolator. The arrangement of the partitions e and small holes s therein, in the several modified forms of the percolator shown, is such as to subdivide the gas into small globules in substantially the same manner.

I make no claim to separati ag or dividing the gas by passing it through small holes in an enlarged or right-angle termination of the induction-tube C at the bottom of a-water-tank or cistern, as this has been done in several different Ways.

claim.

I claim as my invention- 1. The percolator constructed with partitions e separating it into compartments d, said partitions having small holes s so arranged as to make several subdivisions of the gas, and there- 

